Naruto 1. Chapter 1

Summary - The Akatsuki are somehow (by some impossible and unforeseen twist of fate) turned into cats, yep you heard me, cats; every last one of them. So why is Naruto now stuck looking after them?

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters; they're the property of Masashi Kishimoto.

The characters are gonna be out of character so please don't comment on that because I've already pointed it out and if you do tell me that then you're just gonna look like some silly idiot who likes to point out obvious things.

This story may contain shounen-ai at some point, if you don't like it, then please don't read.

"Normal talking"

'_Thoughts' and 'Naruto talking to Kyuubi'_

'_**Kyuubi talking to Naruto'**_

"When Naruto's in his mindscape he and Kyuubi will talk like this as well."

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Chapter 1: Not dying yet! The seal backfires

Pain; it was the first thing Naruto's mind registered.

It was a horrible fiery pain that sunk its claws into his very soul, and slowly, agonizingly, tore it apart. Every fiber of his being was screaming in protest as his very life essence was drawn from his limp body, which was suspended just a few feet from the ground. His mouth hung open as he screamed silently, and he wondered briefly how stupid he must have looked right about now.

'_This is it, I'm dying' _he thought faintly as pain of a different kind ripped though him. _'I'll never see my precious people ever again.'_ Images of those dearest to him flashed through his minds eye. Iruka, Sakura, Kakashi, Jiraiya and Tsunade, Gaara, the Konoha eleven . . . Sasuke. He dwelled on the last image the longest, regretting the goal he couldn't reach and the promise which he swore never to break.

Then, he heard it.

It echoed in the far corners of his mind, a long drawn out sound, which spoke of deep agony, and rage.

Finally, he was able to recognize what it was; another being was screaming with him.

'_Kyuubi' _Naruto's voice was weak and chocked even in his own thoughts.

'_**Kit'**_ the other voice answered back, sounding just as strained.

'_I'm coming to you' _the blond said as he plunged himself into the recesses of his mind.

It was exactly the same as when he'd last been here. The thick bars of the cage reaching up and up and up until it hurt to bend his head back so far as to look at them. Intricate swirls decorated both sides of the enormous metal doors, and a small rectangle with a single word engraved into the smooth metal was planted just out of his reach, right in the middle, like a lock with no keyhole. But he had no time or any desire to admire the ornate gates; he had to see Kyuubi, now.

Two luminous red eyes materialize out of the endless black, quickly followed by the rest of the fox's body. It seemed that too much pain and exhaustion had brought the legendary demon - the one who could destroy mountains and create tsunamis with a single tail - to lying on the ground, so weakened that he could barely lift his head.

Naruto stared at his tenant with sad eyes, falling to his knees at the foot of the cage as he gasped in pain and tried to hold back the tears threatening to fall.

Kyuubi rolled his head to look at him with remorse filled eyes. "You look pathetic" the demon rumbled in that familiar deep voice, the one that had nearly made him wet himself when he'd first been here. His attempt to joke about the situation was pointless.

Both Naruto's expression and voice was bitter as he spoke "I was too weak, and now we're both paying for it." Then his tone went so soft that it was almost nothing more than a murmur "You've been the only constant in my life Kyuu, the one thing I could always count on. I'm grateful for everything you've done for me", the blonde's lips twitched and pulled into a ghost of a smile "even if you were really grouchy and perverted sometimes." Naruto leaned his head against the cold metal bar next to his head and chuckled weakly. It was a bleak sound which may as well have been a cry of despair.

"I'm sorry Kyuubi" Naruto uttered softly as his battle with the tears failed.

The fox stared hard at the human kneeling in front of him, thanking him - the very thing that made his life the hell that it was - and mourning, not only his own death, but for inadvertently causing his as well.

Kyuubi had long since lost his determination for escape, the rage which fueled his destructive nature quieted by a learned appreciation for individual life. He accepted his fate, to live out how ever many of his days were left trapped within his host. But as he looked upon the silently crying boy, a great surge of determination washed over the demon. It coursed like fire throughout his being, running into his limbs and forcing them to heave his colossal body from the ground despite the crippling pain.

"No!" the fox growled out suddenly as he struggled to his feet making Naruto raise his head to look at Kyuubi in shock.

"No? Kyuubi wha…" the blond had to crane his neck to look at the huge fox and trailed off upon seeing the hard stare that was leveled on him.

"I will not just let this happen, you will not die here! I'll be damned before I let you give up too!" Kyuubi's voice boomed out and echoed throughout the many sewer-like hallways. Naruto just stared at him with wide shocked blue eyes, tear tracks running over his whiskered cheeks.

The demon gathered every last ounce of chakra he had left and with a deafening roar he sent it out in one gigantic wave.

Naruto clapped his hands over his ears and screwed his eyes shut as the energy forced him out of his mindscape.

When he was jerked back into awareness the pain instantly tried to take him once again, but the Kyuubi's chakra flowed out, shrouding him, and exploding in waves. The fury behind it was almost tangible as it shook the statue and hit the very shocked Akatsuki full on, making them have to attach themselves to the pillars they stood on with their own chakra. Even then they still found it difficult to stay standing where they were as the boy below them convulsed and arched his body with another silent scream ripping up his throat.

"What the hell is happening!" someone shouted as the terrible red chakra set the room alight with an eerie red glow.

Suddenly there was an incredibly loud inhuman scream and the sealing jutsu was forcefully cut off. The chakra that suspended the jinchuuriki faded and the eyes of the statue started to close. The body hit the ground with a dull thump; everyone's ears were still ringing from the former shrieking scream.

Then, an unnerving silence took the room into its clutches, making the Akatsuki shift nervously. From where he stood Uchiha Itachi narrowed his eyes and focused them on the still faintly glowing boy, who he could easily see despite that fact that the room had been plunged into darkness again.

"What just happened, un?" Deidara asked in a quiet mystified voice. Everyone was confused, the jutsu had been stopped, that had never happened before, and no one was sure what they should do now.

Pain ignored his subordinates, who were now talking among themselves in angry and confused tones, and turned his gaze to the statue. It was too much of a clean finish, something that powerful couldn't just be cut off so sudden and forcefully without there being some kind of backfire. The repercussions of the jutsu could be anything. Who knew what the rampant chakra would do when it finally exploded, because he knew that eventually it would.

Just as he finished that thought, a bright light started to come from the statue and began growing at an alarming rate. Soon it was almost blinding and everyone had to avert their eyes as a faint humming sound floated around the cave. The light just got brighter and brighter, until they couldn't even see each other anymore. Every one of them felt an incredible pain rip though their bodies, and then… they knew no more.

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Naruto shifted slightly and let out a groan as the movement caused little bolts of pain to shoot up and down his entire body, making it tingle unpleasantly.

'_Wait . . . pain . . . I'm still alive?!'_ his thoughts were sluggish as he processed the situation.

'_Kyuubi'_ he called out with apprehension, and waited with dreading anticipation for an answer, half expecting to be met by silence.

'_**Yeah'**_ the low familiar voice rumbled, sounding tired, but there.

'_You saved us'_ it wasn't a question it was a statement, and the young shinobi's voice was filled with wonder and a definite undertone of relief.

'_**Yes'**_ Kyuubi answered back in a way that sounded like there should be a 'duh, and what about it?' attached to the end.

For a while Naruto was completely silent and the fox started to get a little bit worried.

'_**Kit?' **_he called out and was surprised by the response he got.

'_Thank you'_ Naruto said in a strangely quiet and somber voice.

'_**Your welcome kit' **_was the sincere reply, but then Naruto could practically feel the grin as the fox began to speak again _**'besides, I really would prefer to stay where I am rather than being in that stupid statue, its way too much fun being able to tease you.' **_

'_Bastard fox'_ Naruto growled back as the demon snickered, but he was smiling too.

Slowly the blonde's eyes fluttered then opened and it took a while for them to adjust to the darkness that pressed in on him. Cautiously he probed the surrounding with his senses and found something that made the shinobi freeze and then frown in confusion. Faint chakra signatures were spread out all in different sections of the cave. But this is the part that was confusing him. When he'd found the little blips of energy he'd thought that they had been the Akatsuki members, just hiding their signatures. But these were so low that it was more like they were coming from some kind of animals. Where were the Akatsuki? Surely they wouldn't just leave him here if the sealing hadn't worked. The closest energy was about 20 feet away and after a few more moments of probing he deemed it safe enough to look around.

With deliberate slowness, the jinchuuriki used his arms to push his upper body into an upright position so that he could see better, all the while wincing at the soreness in his limbs. Almost immediately he hunched forwards, curling in on himself as a strong unexpected stab of pain came from his abdomen where the Kyuubi's seal was. After a few moments it subsided enough fro him to straighten out again, and he did so tentatively, weary of making any more sudden movement. Naruto swept his eyes across the cave; first the walls then the ceiling and finally the floor. When his eyes landed on a suspicious dark shape he found himself squinting as he tried to figure out just what it was. The 'dark blob' as he'd dubbed it, was rhythmically shifting up and down, and then it clicked. The 'blob' was breathing. It must have been some kind of animal that was lying on its side, just 20 feet away, as he'd predicted earlier. The fur was most likely black, because it was completely unnoticeable in the darkness of the cave, even with his enhanced sight. The only reason he'd found it was because he'd been deliberately looking for something small. He shifted his eyes from the unidentified creature and swept them across the ground searching for the others that he'd detected. There were two, closer together and not too far from the first one. They'd been easier to spot because one of them had a much brighter fur color. It looked like a very dark yellow from here, probably a golden colour in sunlight, the other had a brownish looking fur colour, but he couldn't identify it properly from this distance. Once his little search was finished, he'd counted up ten smallish animals, in varying colors, all across the floor. But that still didn't explain why the Akatsuki weren't here.

With a sigh Naruto agonizingly flipped onto his knees and pushed himself up to stand on wobbly legs. He steadied himself and slowly started to walk over to the closet animal with a slight limp, and an arm wrapped around his middle as it throbbed unpleasantly.

He circled the creature and his eyes widened as he took the thing in at a closer distance, it was a, a . . . a cat! A very handsome cat! Sleek black fur an elegant looking body and perfectly straight whiskers.

Something with a faint glint to it caught the blonde's attention so he crouched down to see what it was. Around the cats slim ebony neck, was a strange collar; it almost looked like a necklace. He fingered it cautiously while his eyes flickered nervously to the cats face to see if he'd disturbed it, but it didn't react at all. For a moment Naruto wondered if it was dead, but then he mentally slapped himself for thinking that when he had already identified that it was clearly breathing.

'_Sometimes I'm such a blonde'_ he thought with a small frown.

'_**Yeah, you're not wrong'**_ a voice butted in snidely.

'_Shut it fuzz ball'_ he snapped back as he continued to observe the necklace.

'_Why does this thing seem familiar?'_ he mused quietly as he stared at the strange little collar. An image flashed abruptly through his minds eye. It was a recent memory.

Uchiha Itachi, standing in front of him as he undid the clasps of his cloak, for the fight that would soon start; and there, nestled just above his collar bone, was the very same necklace.

With a muted gasp, he pulled his hand back as if it had been burned and something close to horror spreading across his face.

'_Soo, either the Akatsuki have a sick sense of humor and are playing some twisted kind of prank on me'_, here he inhaled deeply _'or, they were all turned into cats_' and he let that breath out in a rush of air.

'_Which one is more unbelievable; prank or cats?' _

His eyes sweep over each dark lump slowly.

'_Prank'_, he sighed loudly. _'The Akatsuki would never do something like that. Deception sure, they do it all the time, but not pranking.'_

'_Still . . . this can't be right'_ he shook his head as his luminous blue eyes swept over the cats with apprehension once again, wondering who was who.

Once again the blonde did something he'd been doing a lot lately, he sighed, still not quite believing what was happening.

'_So now the question is, what I do with them?' _his brow knitted together again when the obvious answer floated though his mind.

Kill them while he had the perfect chance to.

'_I know I probably should, it's what any other shinobi would do, considering how much of a threat they are. But it just seems so . . . wrong.'_ Naruto peered at the face of the oblivious Itachi-cat just lying there unconscious, probably the most vulnerable position he'd ever been in since the very early years of his life.

'_It is wrong, they're completely harmless now, so there would be no point in killing them like this. Besides, there could be a way to get information out of them.' _The blonde sighed again deeply,_ 'I'm way too soft.' _

Having convinced himself of his decision he then realized he had absolutely no idea how to get them all back to Konoha.

Scratched the back of his head the blue eyed blonde stared blankly at the floor and struggled to think of anything. After a few minutes he gave up and opted to ask Kyuubi instead.

'_Uhhm Kyuu. How could I transport 10 cats back to Konoha in one trip, by myself?'_ He asked his question in a rush hoping the still exhausted demon would be of some help, and not blow up at him.

'_**What?'**_ the fox asked in a voice that questioned the blonde's mental health.

Fidgeting in a somewhat nervous manner he slowly started to speak._ 'Well I'm sure you've also noticed the absence of the Akatsuki by now, and I'm pretty sure I know why.'_

'_**Aaannd'**_The demon drawled and Naruto could hear the frown in his voice.

'_Ithinktheyallgotturnedintocats'_ he rushed out in a quick babble of words.

'_**What?'**_ The demon asked again.

Naruto not wanting to have to explain it, chose to use a shot cut of sorts,_ 'No never mind, I'll just show you'_ he muttered slowly in a low voice. His eyelids slid closed and he concentrated on everything he'd done in the last 10 or so minutes. The memories flooded from him and passed swiftly to the demon showing him everything, including the conclusion Naruto had come to.

First there was silence, then there was more silence, and then the damn broke. Booming laughter rattled around in Naruto's head making him cringe from the sudden loudness of it. It went on, and on, until he was certain that the fox had lost it.

Finally, Kyuubi had calmed down enough to speak coherently and with a last snicker he sobered.

'_**Well, how . . . odd'**_ it was slow and a bit too calm for the blonde's liking, but he just let it slide.

'_So you're not going to call me mental? You'll actually help?'_ he asked hopefully.

'_**Sure, why not. But if your stupidity really does get up killed this time, then I'll be dragging you to hell with me.' **_The fox warned him with a little growl for enfaces.__

'_Yeah, yeah whatever'_ the shinobi waved off the warning airily, completely unaffected, and continued on despite the annoyed mumbling of the demon. _'So how do we get all of these . . . furry critters out of here anyway?'_ he inquired in an almost offhanded kind of way. Inside of his head the nine-tails snorted at the use of the term furry critters for the once deadly S-class criminals turned cats.

'_**Hmm, I'm actually not sure. The only thing I can think of is if you were to find some kind of sack to put them all in.' **_The demon contemplated out loud.

'_Hay, why didn't I think of that. Alrighty, a sack it is then'_ the teen declared as he stood up and turned in a full circle twice before stopping again. _'Ummm where do I get one?' _he asked sheepishly as he scratched his head, ruffling the bright blond spikes then winced as his arm throbbed.

Kyuubi sighed in exasperation at his host's cluelessness. _**'Wouldn't you have one sealed in one of those little scrolls you always have with you, just incase something unexpected happens' **_by the end of the sentence the fox's voice had turned somewhat amused.

'_Oh yeah! And you kept saying that I'd never need it'_ the blonde accused as he began pulling the scroll from his pouch. Kyuubi just stayed quiet and waited for the blonde to finish unsealing the proper item. With a little puff of smoke, a large plain brown sack had materialized from the scroll and Naruto picked it up to examine at arms length.

"I think it'll be big enough" he murmured quietly out loud and turned to the Itachi-cat.

'_**Put the largest ones in first'**_ Kyuubi said helpfully as he tried hard not to laugh while Naruto debated how to go about packing the cats in. _'Good idea'_ the blonde said cheerfully as he crept around the cave inspecting the individual felines carefully. Finally coming to a decision he crouched down next to the largest cat in size comparison to the others. It was a really scruffy looking thing with boofy thick grayish-blue fur.

'_I think this is Kisame'_ the blonde thought as he gingerly eased his hands under the unconscious animal.

'_Oof! This thing is heavier that it looks'_ the young shinobi complained as he winced at his protesting muscles. With cautious movements he shifted the cat until it was lying comfortably in the bottom of the sack. _'One down'_ he thought with a little grimace.

He moved around the cave efficiently but carefully laying the cats on top of each other in the large brown bag until he was down to just one. It was the last one that caused him to pause. _**'Come on kit we don't' have all day, who knows when they'll regain consciousness' **_the nine-tails warned him _**'do you really want to have to go all the way back to Konoha with a sack full of crazy pissed off cats?!' **_The mental image caused by that little warning caused the blonde to have to clamp a hand over his mouth to contain the sudden bark of laughter that wanted to escape.

With a sigh he reached out to scoop the Itachi-cat up to put in the bag. _'Woah, light'_ he thought as he cradled the animal close to his body so as not to jostle it. The fur was even softer than it looked and the silky hairs felt nice against his skin. For a few seconds he actually had to struggle with himself to resist the tempting urge of rubbing his face into the smooth ebony coat. Warmth radiated off of the small body, soaking through his jacket sleeve and heating his cold arm pleasantly.

He lay the delicate looking animal on top of the pile with cautious slowness and very carefully stood up. With the bag of cats slung over his shoulder like a big lumpy backpack, _'I feel like Santa Claus' _was the last thing he thought before he made his escape.

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Okay, I realize that by now you readers are probably all going WTF!

Weeelll, the whole backfiring seal thing caused it, but I don't really have a proper explanation for the Akatsuki's transformations right now. It's just a something convenient I used for the sake of the plot, I couldn't really think of anything else. Any other of my ideas would have just made it even stupider so I just used that one.


	2. Chapter 2

Summary - The Akatsuki are somehow (by some impossible and unforeseen twist of fate) turned into cats. Yep you heard me, cats. Every last one of them! So why is Naruto now stuck looking after them?

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters; they're the property of Masashi Kishimoto.

The characters are gonna be out of character, so please don't comment on that, because I've already pointed it out. And if you do tell me that then you're just gonna look like some silly idiot, who likes to point out obvious things.

This story may or may not contain shounen-ai at some point, just though I'd warn you incase you don't like that kind of thing, but I'm still a little unsure about that one little factor so bear with me for now.

"Normal talking"

'_Thoughts' and 'Naruto talking to Kyuubi'_

'Akatsuki cats speaking'

'_**Kyuubi talking to Naruto'**_

"When Naruto's in his mindscape he and Kyuubi will talk like this as well."

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Chapter 2: Home Sweet Home

A shadow flew along an exposed patch of undergrowth. The leaves rustled and a small burst of wind followed in its wake. There was a flash of colour, like a flame in a dark room, before it fades out of sight again.

The young blonde shinobi had been running almost non stop for two days now. And the breaks that were taken are brief.

He'd find somewhere well hidden by shrubbery to rest, and then check on the cats. Just to make sure that they weren't suffocation each other or something like that. They were all stuffed into the one sake after all, room was scarce.

Then he would set off again. Since the jinchuuriki had no idea when the Akatsuki could wake up from their temporarily comatose states he was really pushing himself to get them to a secure location, as soon as possible.

He was doing extremely well considering the mild chakra depletion and the fact that he was almost dead just under 48 or so hours ago.

His goal was to reach Konoha without running into any 'rescue parties'. Then, he'd sneak into the village, stash the bag of cats at his apartment, and wing it from there. Well actually, he was already pretty much 'winging it' seeing as he had _absolutely no idea what he was doing_. _**'When don't you?' **__'Shut up Kyuubi!'_

The built up stress was starting to get to him though, and Naruto was becoming very…twitchy. Each and every sound was making the blonde flinch and his eyes darted around the surroundings, waiting for anything that would come at him.

As Naruto leant against a tree to catch his breath a faint rustling started up, just one branch away from the one he stood on. Every muscle in his body tensed as he stared hard at the area the sound was coming from. A tan hand slowly crept down to his weapon pouch and he remembered that he only had one kunai left. Cursing silently he crouched down on the branch, ready to spring into action. The leaves rustled and the noises got louder as whatever it was approached. The hand resting near his thigh suddenly dove to the single kunai, and griped it securely, before throwing it into the foliage with deadly accuracy. There was a terrified squeal and a thunk. Naruto stood up straight and peaked through the leaves.

A small brown squirrel was frozen, petrified, with the kunai buried in the tree trunk only inches above its furry little head. He stepped onto the thick branch and crouched down to remove the kunai before gently stroking the squirrel and bringing it to his chest with one arm and murmuring faint apologies over and over. It recovered quickly and scampered away into the tree top. Naruto smiled a bit with a slight feeling of déjà vu before turning to leap to the next tree.

Right before he sprang forward the blonde froze as something gently nudged him, right in between the shoulder blades. He stared ahead with wide blue eyes, but he wasn't focusing on anything in the distance. No, every sense was zoned in on the bulging bag slung over his aching shoulders. The nudge came again, stronger this time, and quickly followed by another. The teen's heart thumped hard as he ever so carefully climbed down from the tree. With the blood pounding so loudly in his ears he could only faintly hear the air rushing into already abused lungs as his breathing rate picked up.

Gently, he lowered the bag to the forest floor and watched with a detached sort of horror as it shifted around slightly. The young jinchuuriki reached for the tie at the top, with shaking hands, and let the string fall loose.

Taking a deep shaky inhale and gulping silently, the shinobi pulled the entrance open slightly and peeking in with caution. He sighed in relief when he saw that none of them were actually awake yet, but they were starting to, and that was enough to keep him edgy. Gulping again Naruto went to remove the slowly awakening animals, but hesitated. Hardening his resolve he reached in and gingerly lifted the Itachi-cat from the pile. He laid the cat on the ground, followed by another slightly smaller one with rough redish colored fur. It reminded Naruto of cinnamon for some reason. This was followed by a golden cat with long shiny fur and a long sweeping tail. Then another with sleek silver fur, and ears that seemed permanently folded backwards. This one was also wearing a necklace-like collar like Itachi, but it was a simple chain with a strange symbol dangling from it. The next cat to be removed was peculiar. It had long wild fur that was completely black, save for a single circular patch of ginger fur, which covered its entire face. The two that followed were even weirder. The first was black and white, with very small ears. That would make it normal, except for the fact that the black and white was covering one side of its body each, splitting it down the middle. The second was a strange almost fleshy kind of brown, with a pattern of dark stripes crisscrossing its entire body, in a way that made it look like its body parts were all held together by stitches. Then there was a bright orange one with wild spiky fur, and several black dots on its face. The very last two were completely normal, except that they were both a different shade of blue.

All in all it was a pretty weird bunch of felines. This of course, was completely understandable. Heck, Naruto would've be surprised if they weren't a little bit freaky, they were as humans, so why not as cats too.

The blonde sighed heavily as he looked around a bit and leapt up into a nearby tree which seemed reasonably comfortable compared to the others.

'_I guess I'll just have to stay put and wait for them to fully regain consciousness now'_

So, the shinobi hunkered down, and watched and waited anxiously as the animals bellow continued to stir and shift around.

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Naruto brought a hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose, and squeezed his eyes tightly shut as he massaged his fingers over the closed lids.

He may have been a shinobi, and contain a demon that gave him way above normal stamina levels, but he was still human, and the lack of sleep made him weary. It had been several hours now since the Akatsuki had first began to stir, and they were yet to actually wake up.

The blonde let his eyes flutter open and he blinked rapidly. It took a few more seconds for Naruto to fully realize just what he was seeing, and when he did, a startled gasp slipped between parted lips. Luminous grey eyes were staring up at him, narrowed pupils focused with a gaze so piercing that he shuddered involuntarily.

The cat's eyes slowly slid from his frozen form to its surroundings, taking in the numerous other animals laid out around it. Naruto continued to watch it and felt a certain degree of awe. The bright orange cat was taking everything in with almost unbelievable calmness, considering it must have noticed just how wrong things were.

It placed both front feet flat on the ground and gracefully hauled itself onto all four legs. With not even the tiniest wobble, like it had been doing this for the whole of its life. That unnerving gaze went back to the blonde, who had managed to unfreeze himself once more and landed on the ground with a barely audible thump. With cautious slowness the jinchuuriki approached the cat and maneuvered to a sitting position, just a little distance away from it. The silvery eyes never left him. For what seemed like forever they simply stared at each other, sizing the other up.

"You have obviously noticed the changes you've gone through" Naruto suddenly spoke up, breaking the tense silence that had settled around them. "I don't know how this happened to you, all I know is that it did" he continued on after a slight pause.

The cats gaze was burning through him now. It looked like it wanted to speak, but the blonde couldn't be certain. _**'I can make a link'**_ Kyuubi's voice sounded in his head, distracting him.

'_A what?'_

'_**A link, one that will make it so that when he wants to speak you'll be able to understand'**_ A few seconds of silence passed as the blonde considered it before he answered.

'_Do it' _

'_**As you wish kit'**_

The blonde shinobi blinked slowly as he came back to reality and looked once more to the feline. "Kyuubi has just offered to make a link between us, it will allow me to understand you if you wish to speak." Naruto told the brightly colored animal as it swished its tail and waited patiently. Though he had already told the demon to create the link he thought it would be better if he relayed the message to the cat about it first. It nodded once in consent.

A small sliver of the Kyuubi's chakra manifested before it blinked out, the blonde nodded to the cat. "It's done"

'Why are we still alive?' was the first thing the animal said as the newly created link was tested.

Naruto felt a little bit surprised by the question but he quickly recomposed himself. "Because I decided against killing you" he stated honestly.

'Why is that?' the cat pursued as its head tilted slightly. Naruto could hear the genuine curiosity in the low voice.

"I could lie to you and say one of the few good reasons I have thought up since we left your base, but when the decision was first made I honestly didn't have an excuse. I just knew that it felt wrong." For some reason he couldn't help but tell the whole truth when that silvery gaze was locked on him.

'Interesting' the cat replied as its eyes narrowed a bit. Naruto got the distinct feeling that he was being smirked at. 'You Uzumaki Naruto are a strange shinobi, an enigma' the cat told him 'and a fool' he continued.

Naruto frowned at that. He knew it wasn't really what it appeared. The other wasn't trying to insult him. He was stating something he saw as a fact. And it was right too, he was a fool; this decision was reckless and stupid. But he just couldn't seem to really care. "I am aware of this, and I don't really care" he replied in an even voice.

The cat smirked again 'yes, definitely interesting' he mused, as those intense eyes once again went to the surroundings. Naruto followed its gaze.

As Naruto's eyes swept over the last cat twin red orbs looked back at them. The blonde almost allowed a sound of shock to escape him, and smothered it at the last second, but he couldn't stop his body from flinching.

Itachi blinked slowly and took everything in with what seemed just as much calmness as the other before him had.

The ebony furred feline also used as much grace when he got to his feet.

'Itachi' the ginger cat said the name like a greeting, acting completely normal. As if they weren't 1 tenth their normal size and covered with fur.

'Pein-sama' the Uchiha greeted back, his tone respectful. It seemed Kyuubi had connected all of them when he'd established the link.

Naruto's eyes flickered to the orange cat in front of him. So this was Pein huh. If his knowledge was correct, then this orange cat was the Akatsuki leader.

The Uchiha's scarlet gaze came to rest on the young jinchuuriki and then returned to Pein, it was a silent question.

'It seems that Naruto-kun has decided to keep us alive' the feline said in his low voice. This shocked him. He hadn't expected the Akatsuki leader to so easily admit their helplessness, and at his hands no less. _He_ was the one that _they_ were meant to be hunting. But the hunters could easily become the hunted, if Naruto so wished it. Only it wouldn't be much of a hunt, he could just slaughter them right here, no problem. And even if they did fight back, it wouldn't last long. They were only cats after all.

Itachi gaze snapped back to him as he searched his face, trying to lift the truth from his blue eyes with his own red ones. Despite not saying anything, it was clear what he was looking for. The singular word hovered silently.

_Why?_

The sharingan might have been absent but Naruto was still hesitant to meet the Uchiha's gaze. That bloody colour was unnerving with its almost hypnotic quality and he had to force himself not to look away.

'Naruto-kun' Pein's voice broke through the tense atmosphere and Itachi's piercing gaze was averted. 'I am curious as to what you intend to do with us'

Naruto just stared back at him almost blankly for a good few seconds. Then slowly he began to speak. "I want to make a deal with you."

'Oh, and what would you want to do that for?' Pein asked with an expression that seemed almost . . . amused.

"I want your word, that if I help you to regain your original bodies you'll promise not to pursue me again, until I have fulfilled my promise to bring Sasuke home, one way or another. Without any outside interference from you or anyone affiliated with your organization." Naruto worded cautiously, trying not to leave any loopholes.

The Akatsuki leader leered at him. 'What do I have to ensure your end of the bargain?'

"You have my word. I never go back on a promise, it's my shinobi way!" The blonde stated with a confident expression.

The Akatsuki leader considered him for a long moment, and then his face formed a feral grin, making the black dots stretch out.

'Deal'

Itachi stared silently back and forth between his leader and the blonde jinchuuriki throughout the whole thing. His expression was blank.

The three figures turned their eyes back to the other members when they heard the faint sounds indicating their awakening.

One by one they all awoke, all with varying reactions. More than half of them looked thoroughly freaked out though. Someone even voiced their…confusion. 'What the hell!' it was that silver cat, the one with the folded back ears. 'Shut up Hidan' Mr. Stitches (as Naruto had dubbed him) told him in a rough irritated voice. Hidan turned to Mr. Stitches with defiant angry eyes and looked ready to start a heated argument, but quickly backed down at the look sent his way by the leader.

'Pein-sama, what has happened to us' one of the two blue cats spoke up. Naruto once again found himself surprised when he heard the clearly female voice.

'I am unaware of the exact details but I believe our current state is owed to an unexpected side effect caused by the sealing jutsu when it backfired.' He told them calmly as he sat before them with a dignified pose.

'_Wow, nothing fazes this guy does it' _the silent blonde thought as he took note of the amount of composure the cat seemed to exude. This was quickly followed by _'I can't believe there's a woman working in the Akatsuki!'_

The young shinobi felt an unpleasant tingle run down his spine and quickly discovered the source of his discomfort. More than one of the Akatsuki was looking at him with what looked like a cat's equivalent of a murderous expression. They obviously blamed him for the current situation. This was kind of unjust really since they were the ones who started it, Naruto thought with a childish pout. He never did like getting blamed for things he didn't do.

'Why is he here?' the golden furred cat spoke up, confirming his suspicions. The voice was angry. But there was also some curiosity laced into it.

'Naruto-kun has made us an offer, which I have already accepted.' Even thought the voice was quiet it instantly drew all of their attention. The Akatsuki shifted their gazes from their leader, to the jinchuuriki, and back again. 'It is obvious that while in our current states we can not possibly get back to the way we were, so it is suffice to say we could be stuck like this' the ginger stated and the others shifted nervously, they weren't happy about that little fact. 'However, with the aid of an outside source we could find a way back to our original forms.' Pein's eyes moved to the blonde that still sat in front of him. The others followed, and their expressions changed. They had caught on.

'Why would he do that? We're his enemy's! How can we trust that he'll hold his end of the deal?' Hidan spoke up with an indignant loud tone of voice.

Some of them made sounds of agreement and turned their eyes back to the ever calm leader.

'We don't' Pein told them honestly.

They all stared with shock and confusion. But even as cats they wouldn't dare question him, so no one said anything else.

'I assume we'll be traveling to Konoha now' Pain addressed the silent blonde.

"Yes" Naruto nodded as he rose slowly from the ground. The jinchuuriki now towered ever them. "If I'm correct then we're only a day's travel away" the blonde hesitated "but it may be longer." He didn't need to say the rest; they all knew what he meant.

Obviously they no longer retained the abilities of their former bodies, so their traveling time would be hindered. The Akatsuki would have to do things the old fashion way; running bare foot on the ground, without the aid of chakra.

He paused for a second "I'll flare my chakra so that you won't have to keep visual contact" then leapt up into the trees again and began moving forward. Bellow him he could hear the cats as they ran through the undergrowth. His enhanced hearing could easily pick up the sound of soft paws thumping against the leaf strewn ground, and shrubbery rustling with their passage.

Naruto would have to remain conscious of them, and stop regularly. Pride made them stubborn, so even if they were pushed past their limits they wouldn't inform him, they'd just keep going. But he was too relieved to get truly annoyed at that. _'Thank god they didn't bring up how I got them all this far' _that would have been just too awkward, and god knows how they would have reacted. He shuddered at the thought.

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Naruto sat completely still as he rest up in the leafy branches. His body was turned away from them, but he still gave the cats constant sidelong glances.

It was almost like he was dealing with a bunch of aggressive, abnormal, bad tempered children . . . with extensive knowledge of the language's less fine points. Hidan had just got into yet another fight with Kakazu.

In the little time that they'd been traveling he had learned all of their names.

The blonde was beginning to get a strange feeling though. And it was starting to unnerve him. It wasn't really protective, that wasn't the right word for it, but he got the feeling like he had some kind of responsibility to them now. It was like he _had_ to look out for them.

He didn't like it. This was something that could easily become an attachment, and that was_ not_ something he wanted.

They were the Akatsuki for crying out loud! S-class missing nins and badass extraordinaires! But he had made a deal, and now he had to stick to it. That was his nindo, his ninja way. He just kinda wished that it wasn't.

With a heavy sigh he stood up straight, they'd rested enough. It was time to move again.

Naruto's eyes suddenly went wide and he snapped his head around to stare into the distance.

Someone was coming!

The cats had obviously sensed it too, they were backed closer together and a few of them had raised fur. It bristled along their backs, rising into ridged looking spikes.

The blonde dropped from the tree and landed right next to them in a defensive position, single kunai at hand. His blue eyes glinted as he narrowed them and continued staring in the direction he'd heard the possible threat approaching.

Then the faint wisps of chakra hit him. The young jinchuuriki inhaled sharply. Not enemies. They were Konoha shinobi, and he knew them well. But there was no way he could let them see the Akatsuki, let alone try to explain them.

"You have to hide, now!" he told them in a low urgent voice, and thanked the gods when they listened to him. With cautious steps, the cats quickly retreated into the surrounding shrubbery. The already low signatures lowered even more, making them seem like something smaller than they were. If anyone else could feel them now they'd simply think they were birds or something.

The familiar signatures grew closer and closer as they closed in on him and Naruto walked forward to greet them.

Four silent figures dropped from the canopy in front of him. From left to right it was Rock Lee, Hyuuga Neji, Haruno Sakura and Hatake Kakashi.

"Naruto!" Sakura cried out as she literally flung herself at him. The sudden connection as she hit him with her full body weight was painful, and the blonde couldn't help the small sound of discomfort from escaping. "Ahh" he half gasped half groaned into her fragrant shoulder. Strong and floral with an under layer of something sugary, as well as strawberry scented soap; it was exactly how he remembered that uniquely Sakura scent.

"Oh I'm sorry" she apologized as she realized what she'd done and withdrew to look over him with assessing eyes. He knew he must have looked like a right mess, because those mint green eyes were sharp with worry.

"Gods Naruto" she suddenly got teary. "I can't believe you're still alive, I thought for sure you were dead! Sakura practically sobbed out as she clung to him again, like he was going to disappear.

Now Naruto was panicking. "Ah Sakura-chan, don't cry, please don't cry" he pleaded with her as the water works continued.

After a little while, and some awkward back patting from Naruto she eventually calmed down and drew back with only a few sniffles.

"I'm sorry" she apologized for the drama "but I've just been so upset these last few days" she explained as she gave him a watery smile. He grinned back softly. "It's okay Sakura-chan."

"Maa Naruto, it's good to see you" Kakashi spoke up with a closed eye smile. Despite his calm exterior Naruto could hear the genuine relief in his sensei's voice as he stepped towards them. The silver haired man's single uncovered eye was swimming with unsaid emotions. And he looked even scruffier than normal, like he'd been agitated for days. The jounin had been worried for him, very worried.

"Yosh Naruto-kun you truly are in the spring time of youth! Nothing can squash your burning flames of youthfulness!" Lee exclaimed loudly as he cried a stream of tears and Neji gave the blonde a soft smile. Though the stoic Hyuuga didn't say anything his eyes spoke for him, 'I'm glad you're alive'.

"We should take you to the hospital" Sakura said firmly as she looped an arm around his. She didn't want to leave him just yet.

"Yes, and then you'll have to report to Tsunade-sama" Kakashi told him as they turned towards the village, back the way they'd came.

Suddenly Naruto remembered his furry little friends, still hiding in the bushes. He'd been so caught up in the reunion that he'd almost forgotten about them.

As the blonde went to follow the others he shot a quick pointed look to the bushes behind him, and preyed that they understood to follow. Luckily they did spot it and did understand. So as the Konoha shinobi disappeared from sight they slinked from the undergrowth and followed after the jinchuuriki's now memorized signature, at a measured distance.

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"Safe!" the blonde sighed as he slumped to the floor against his front door.

The news of his amazing escape from the Akatsuki's clutches had instantly escaped, like some kind of gossip bunny on steroids had been going around, spreading the seeds of rumor. As soon as he'd escaped the clutches of a mother henning Iruka and a persistent Tsunade the young shinobi had been swooped on by all of his friends.

Well, at least he didn't have to worry about messing up his carefully forged story. He'd had to repeat it so many times already; Naruto didn't think it was possible to forget it now.

Funnily enough, the entire time he'd been surrounded by the very people he'd been longing to see, all he could think about was the Akatsuki.

They'd followed the blonde the rest of the way to Konoha, but once the cats had reached the outer walls they'd had to stop. It would have looked very peculiar, and suspicious, if an entire pack of freaky looking felines just came waltzing in through the front gates. And they couldn't exactly sneak in on their own anymore. So they'd remained outside, waiting for the young shinobi to smuggle them in.

Naruto would have to wait a little bit longer before he went anywhere though. The cover of night would make things a lot easier, and safer.

So he sat in his dingy, quiet apartment, and waited impatiently for the last rays of the sun to fade, and for the darkness to seep into the sky and shroud the village in its embrace.

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The blonde ran trough the shadowed alleyways of his childhood like a phantom. One second he was there, a flicker in your periphery, and then he was gone again.

Naruto knew these streets well, and he took comfort in the fact that he could easily outmaneuver just about anyone while in the mess of twisting passages.

Some were wide and others were so thin that only one person could barely slip down them at a time, and some were cramped with so much discarded junk that you couldn't even get through them. And he knew them all.

With a self assured grin Naruto leapt silently over a trashcan, his shadow momentarily flying along with him as a lamp light flashed over head.

As he neared the city walls his movement became more calculated, more cautious. He had to make sure no patrols found him.

With a muted sigh of relief he slipped into the encompassing forest, just outside the towering walls, and began his search. It didn't take long. They soon found him, and all ten cats separated from the shadows to stand near him in a patch of illuminating moonlight. It made their eyes glint and their coats seemed to sparkle, while his golden skin shone in a way that made the blonde look almost ethereal.

With a silent gesture for them to follow they all disappeared into the night again.

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Huzzar! I finally finished the chapter. This took longer than I thought it would.

Sorry for making you wait, but there it is. I hope you liked it!^^

Please Read and Review


	3. Chapter 3

First off, I'd just like to give a big thank you to all of the readers who have reviewed my story.

Soooo THANK YOU!!! It really does motivate me to keep writing. Plus I get a happy fluffy feeling when I read them, that's a bonusXD

Okay I'm done. On with the usual business!!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters; they're the property of Masashi Kishimoto.

The characters are gonna be out of character, so please don't comment on that, because I've already pointed it out. And if you do tell me that then you're just gonna look like some silly idiot, who likes to point out obvious things.

This story may or may not contain shounen-ai at some point, just though I'd warn you incase you don't like that kind of thing, but I'm still a little unsure about that one little factor so bear with me for now.

"Normal talking"

'_Thoughts' and 'Naruto talking to Kyuubi'_

'Akatsuki cats speaking'

'_**Kyuubi talking to Naruto'**_

"When Naruto's in his mindscape he and Kyuubi will talk like this as well."

Chapter 3: Oh hell no!

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It was a beautiful day in Konoha. Birds were singing, little woodland animals were running about, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky . . . a fact that was really pissing off our favourite blonde shinobi at the moment.

Naruto rolled over with a groan, effectively tangling both legs in the sheets. He didn't care though; he'd just untangle himself again before he got up.

Almost every morning he would be woken up by the ever cheerful sun, beaming its hot bright rays of doom directly onto his overly sensitive eyelids. It was very annoying, but a good wake up call in any case, so he tolerated it. He had to.

The blonde rolled over with another groan, followed by a sigh. His heavy seemingly fused together lids opened to half mast, then closed again as he blinked a few times, then opened again.

He lazily rolled his eyes to the open window . . . and let out a shout of surprise, before promptly falling off the edge of his mattress and onto the cold floor, with a loud painful sounding thump.

A certain silver haired jounin was crouched down in the window, wearing a way too happy smile. He either didn't care or hadn't noticed that he was squashing Naruto's poor helpless little plants in the process.

Naruto glared up at Kakashi balefully and felt the almost overpowering need to deck his sensei as he got a cheerful "Yo" for a greeting. The young shinobi grumbled a few unintelligible statements under his breath as he pulled himself up from the ground.

"You sure aren't a morning person are you Naruto."

Said blonde threw the jounin a dirty look as he sat crossed legged on his bed, one arm in his lap and the other ruffling his messy bed hair. "Why are you here Kakashi-sensei?" He asked with a clearly unhappy voice and a sour expression.

"You have to report to Hokage-sama as soon as possible, she needs to talk with you" the jounin explained in his usually bored lazy manner before raising his hand with a quick "Ja ne" and disappearing in a puff of white smoke.

'_He scared the living crap out of me just to tell me that!' _

Naruto continued to glared at the spot his sensei had disappeared for a few more seconds before getting up to go about his usual routine.

He dragged his still half asleep body into the kitchen while rubbing at his eyes drowsily with a fisted hand. When he went to get breakfast the first thing he reached for was naturally a cup of instate ramen. But a voice in his head (that didn't belong to Kyuubi) echoed in the neutral tone of a memory. _'Naruto, at least try to eat something else other than ramen all the time. It really isn't good for you. Please.' _Iruka's stern but gentle face floated in front of his eyes and he bit his lip. The outstretched hand moved across the shelf and tan digits grasped a box of cereal instead, also courtesy of Iruka. He picked out a bowl a spoon and a carton of milk from the fridge and sat down to eat the crunchy muesli in silence.

When Naruto walked into the lounge room he almost had his second heart attack of the day when he spotted the many cats lounging about in various positions. He calmed himself down quickly though _'it's just the Akatsuki' _and quietly walked to the hallway on the other side, to get to the bathroom (1). The blonde jinchuuriki barely restrained from twitching as he felt the numerous pairs of eyes following his every movement when he passed them.

Naruto emerged from the bathroom about 10 minutes later, fully dressed (he'd had his clothes with him when he went in) with his still damp hair falling around his face in golden blonde spikes. Without the headband, it was long enough to be irritating as it fell into his eyes, and he brushed it back with an impatient hand. Naruto stood in front of the Akatsuki cats with his hands planted on his hips. "I have to leave for a while but I expect you can restrain yourselves from getting into any trouble." Frowning at the lack of response the jinchuuriki turned and disappeared into his room. He reemerged with the Konoha headband tied securely in place.

"Just stay in the house, and if anyone drops by, hide. I'll know if you do leave because I have seals around all of the exits that will tell me when anyone crosses them." The blonde warned. "My room is out of bounds." He added the last part with a stern tone that promised unpleasant consequences if they tried. The cats just blinked at him. "Behave" he tossed behind him as he walked out of sight again.

With his rules set down Naruto walked out the front door and locked it behind him. He already felt nervous.

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'_3 . . . 2 . . . 1'_

"WHAT!"

The shout of disbelief echoed loudly inside the office and the guards outside shifted, while a few startled birds took flight in a sudden flurry of wings.

"You can't be serious Tsunade baa-chan, can't you do anything?!" Naruto pleaded as he stood before the well endowed woman, blue eyes wide and hands placed on her desk as he leaned forward, his shoulders tense.

The Godaime Hokage sighed heavily as she laced her fingers together with her elbows also placed on the mahogany desk, and gave the blonde an apologetic look. "I'm sorry Naruto" she told him as she frowned. "Those cynical old windbags for council members have been looking for a good excuse to keep you confined to the village, and now they have one. Your close encounter with the Akatsuki shook more just those close to you. There's nothing I can do. Until further notice you are officially barred from partaking in any missions outside of Konoha's boundaries." She watched as he deflate in defeat and slouch back into his chair, face grim.

"Well at least now you'll have a lot more time to train" Tsunade tried as she attempted to lift his spirits, if only a little. He managed a brief meek smile and silently rose to exit. "I'm sorry" she told him again as he reached for the door handle. Naruto didn't turn around as he nodded in response. "I know baa-chan, thanks anyway, for trying" he told her as he finally turned to give her his usual wide foxy grin. But it wasn't fooling anyone; she could tell it was forced. Her frown deepened as the door clicked shut behind him.

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Naruto gapped.

His mouth just opened and closed several times without any sound escaping, not unlike a fish. He couldn't do anything else. The blonde just stared at the bedlam that was once his living room and couldn't find a way to react. But there were several emotions he wanted to convey. Shock, anger, disbelief and mourning for his furniture all jostled for first place. Anger won out in the end though and his mouth shut with an audible click. _'Oh hell no, I'm gone for 20 minutes and this is what they do!'_

Naruto's brow furrowed together over a narrowed gaze. "_What _exactly_ did you do to my apartment_?!" he demanded in a low deadly voice.

The cats stared at Naruto in apprehension as his bright eyes flashed dangerously. None of them really felt like answering.

Itachi sat silently on the window sill and watched in amusement as the jinchuuriki fumed silently and pinned the other members with…well lets just say, if looks could kill.

'Uhm--' Deidara bravely started to speak, and almost flinched as Naruto's glare locked on him. 'Weeell you see, Tobi was bored and Zetsu got annoyed at him when he complained about it so he chased Tobi around the room. Tobi accidently ran into Hidan, who started shouting at him, then Kakazu told Hidan to shut up and Hidan got angry at him so they started to fight. Then Kisame tried to break it up and got hit in the process so he joined in the fight as well.' Here Naruto twitched. 'They knocked over the lamp which fell on the curtains which made them fall down, which knocked the table over. Then they accidently ripped open one of the pillows as they continued to fight, which caused the feathers to go everywhere. Then they finally stopped. And that's it,' he took a deep breath and finished his long and quickly spoken explanation with an 'un' and a final nod.

One of Naruto's hands slowly rose up and they flinched, but he just ran it through his bright hair and closed his eyes. Slowly they opened again and his hand dropped to his side. It appeared he had calmed down.

"Where are the others?" Naruto asked suddenly as he noticed the absence of some of the Akatsuki members.

'Pain-sama and Konan are in the kitchen' Itachi spoke up quietly from his position on the window sill as he gave the blonde a sidelong glance. Naruto nodded once and crossed the messy room quickly to disappear into his bedroom. They heard him sigh heavily as he shut the door. Then the apartment went quiet.

The Akatsuki members exchanged glances and then turned their heads to the closed door again, their expressions confused.

Itachi narrowed his eyes. He could tell that something had upset the young shinobi, and for some reason that bothered him, more than it should.

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Somewhere on the other side of Konoha, Hyuuga Neji was lost deep in thought as he sat meditating in the middle of the training fields.

As soon as Kakashi had detected Naruto's fluctuating chakra the other day he'd immediately started to look for him with the Byakugan. When Neji had located Naruto he'd been surprised. Unless he was mistaken - and he knew he wasn't - the blonde shinobi had been accompanied by no less than ten small animals, until just moments before they found him. The only reason he didn't ask the blonde about it was because of the ordeal that he'd gone through, and the fact that he was so relieved that the other was alive and well, kinda.

But now that he thought about it Naruto had been very distracted when they'd talked to him yesterday as well. It was almost like he had been worrying about something, something important.

Now the Hyuuga prodigy had a mystery on his hands, and he would figure it out eventually.

He'd question Naruto about it latter he decided as Lee demanded a spar in his usual exuberant fashion.

'_What are you hiding from us Naruto?'_

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This chapter is shorter than the previous, but don't worry, the next will be longer.

(1) I'm not really sure of Naruto's apartment's size, but in my version it's big enough to have actual separated rooms. Most stories I've read usually have it as one big room with just barely enough space for the essential living areas to be separate from each other.

I also noticed that I am yet to specify Naruto's age. He's 15 at the moment okay, glad that's cleared up.

Please Read and Review


	4. Chapter 4

I'M SORRY! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I've made you wait so long for just this one measly chapter. I throw myself at your feet my wonderful, faithful readers. Please forgive me!

Also, I suggest you read the message at the bottom of the page, it is rather important so if you don't mind please take some time to have a look. Thank You.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters; they're the property of Masashi Kishimoto.

The characters are gonna be out of character, so please don't comment on that, because I've already pointed it out. And if you do tell me that then you're just gonna look like some silly idiot, who likes to point out obvious things.

This story may or may not contain shounen-ai at some point, just though I'd warn you incase you don't like that kind of thing, but I'm still a little unsure about that one little factor so bear with me for now.

"Normal talking"

'_Thoughts' and 'Naruto talking to Kyuubi'_

'Akatsuki cats speaking'

'_**Kyuubi talking to Naruto'**_

"When Naruto's in his mindscape he and Kyuubi will talk like this as well."

First off, I'd just like to say how sorry I am that I haven't updated in so long, but I hope that you can forgive me and continue to read my stories. Soo here it (finally) is

Akatsuki Cats:

Chapter 4: Of frustrations, unexpected visitors and . . . poker?

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"GAH!" Naruto walked back and forth in his bedroom running agitated hands through his hair, messing it up even more that usual. "I can't deal with this anymore. They're just too much of a handful!" he exclaimed to the empty air as he continued to pace.

The cats had once again completely messed up his living room today. Not to mention the gruesome remains of a rat he'd found out on his balcony. Apparently Zetsu had decided that he would rather be eating live rodents more than the normal food Naruto had made for them the other night. Though he supposed that wasn't such a bad thing. Now that he wasn't taking missions anymore he could barely afford to keep feeding himself, let alone the nine or so extra mouths.

He was starting to regret making this deal.

Naruto was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't even notice the person listening in on his one-sided conversation.

"Who's too much of a handful Naruto?"

"AHH!" the blonde screamed girlishly in surprise as he turned around fast enough to give himself whiplash. Hand pressed to his heart he calmed down a bit when he saw the familiar figure crouched in his window, casually reading Icha Icha Tactics. A brief feeling of mourning stabbed him as his flowers were once again squashed cruelly. It was quickly replaced by panic though as he realized he was just caught in the middle of his frustrated ranting. Naruto tried to act normal and laugh it off.

"Ahhahehe" he chuckled nervously as he scratched the back of his neck and waved his hand in an up and down motion. "Oh no one Kakashi-sensei, I'm just venting" he attempted weakly to divert the attention from himself as the jounin gazed suspiciously and raised a single eyebrow at him.

"Why are you here this time sensei?" he questioned as he sat on his bed. The springs squeaked meekly in protest at the added weight.

"Can't I visit one of my cute little students once in a while, without it being work related?" Kakashi asked cheerfully as his uncovered eye curved, indicating a smile. Naruto gave him a deadpan expression and the jounin sweat dropped at the iciness. "O-kay nice seeing you then" Kakashi said and disappeared in a poof of smoke.

Naruto was left feeling slightly confused (that was _pretty_ random) as he stood up again and drifted back into the living room. Something about it felt off though. He stood in contemplation of the room for a few seconds, one hand on his hip, and a slight frown marring his brow. His eyes widened and he looked around in slight alarm when he realized that the room was completely empty. No Akatsuki.

Before he could really start panicking though he picked up their signatures, all converged in the kitchen. Naruto sighed silently in relief and briskly walked into the next room.

When he caught sight of them he abruptly came to a stop, rubbed at his eyes in disbelief, and then just stood in the doorway gapping with high arched eyebrows.

They were . . . playing . . . poker. (1)

Somehow the cats had managed to get their han- er paws on some chips a deck of cards and . . . _was that a cigar_?

Naruto pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed deeply. These cats, they were just too weird. Only in the Akatsuki, only they would do something like this.

The blonde almost jumped out of his skin when there was a sudden loud banging on his front door, demanding attention. What's with all the sudden visitors anyway?! He composed himself again, and went to answer it.

Naruto cautiously peeked around the small gap and when he recognized the visitor he opened the door fully.

"Kiba?"

"Yep that's me!" the Inuzuka proclaimed loudly as he rudely walked straight into the apartment without an invitation.

Naruto spluttered and tried to steer him away from the kitchen. "Ha… eh… why are you here Kiba?" he asked distractedly as he managed to get the dog lover into the living room.

Kiba's nose wrinkled when he stepped through the doorway, like he could smell something bad. "Why does it reek in here?" he asked as he observed the strangely organized room. He didn't think that the blonde shinobi would have this clean a house. It didn't seem like him.

Unnoticed by the surprised Inuzuka, Naruto was having a mild panic attack.

He should have realized, of course Kiba could smell the cats; his nose was especially sensitive because of his family's heritage.

"Uhh . . . where's Akamaru?" Naruto ignored the previous question as he tried to distract the other shinobi, as soon as the question was out of his mouth though he was mentally slapping himself on the forehead. There's no way something that lame would work. "He's havin' a check up." It worked. "And I was bored so I decided I'd drop on by" Kiba explained with a grin. "Lucky you huh" he joked wryly.

Naruto forced out a quick laugh, which ended up coming out high pitched and almost hysterical, but luckily Kiba didn't seem to notice. He just laughed as well and started snooping around the room. Kiba may have some of the best tracking skills out of the entire rookie 9, but he could be very unobservant at times.

Naruto was shooting quick glances back at the kitchen as he also kept an eye on the dog lover, all the while praying that the he won't ask for something to-

"Hay Naruto can I get somethin' to drink, you don't mind do ya?"

-drink.

Kiba didn't wait for an answer and walked straight towards the kitchen.

Naruto stood frozen in disbelief for a few seconds then just about had a heart attack when he realized what just happened.

"Kiba wait" he called out in desperation as he practically ran after the boy. "I can explain!" he said as he skidded through the doorway.

"Ehhh, you don't have anything decent" Kiba complained as he rummaged around in his fridge, his head was completely obscured by the door making his voice sound slightly muffled. Naruto looked around in confusion. The table was completely bare and the cats were all gone, there wasn't even a trace of smoke (from the cigars) hanging in the air. How'd they do that!? Maybe he'd been hallucinating?

"Uh yeah, I didn't have a chance to go shopping for a while" Naruto said weakly and leaned against the counter top in relief.

"Man Naruto are you okay? Ya look kinda pale" he heard Kiba ask in a slightly worried voice as he closed his eyes.

"Yeah, I'm just tired is all" the blonde explained as he slumped down a bit.

"Well I should get goin' then." Naruto opened his eyes at Kiba's words and nodded as he showed him to the door.

"Good seeing you" Naruto said politely.

"Yeah. Guess I'll see you some other time" Kiba answered with a raucous grin as he then turned and walked down the hallway and around a corner, out of sight. Naruto closed his door and slid down against it, landing heavily on his butt with a tired sigh and ignoring the mild throb of pain from it. That was too close. _Way_ too close.

After a while he pulled himself up onto his feet, using the door handle as leverage. When he walked into the kitchen again the cats are exactly where they were before. It was as if they never moved at all.

'Royal Flush' Itachi said calmly as he pushed forward his spread cards, followed by a chorus of groans. 'Ah not again' 'Uchiha always wins'. And for a second Naruto swore that he saw the cat smirking.

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A loud sigh issued from Naruto's mouth as he slumped forwards on the book and paper strewn desk. He allowed his head to drop with a thump onto the open pages of a particularly thick one lying in front of him, and uttered a soft 'ow' at the action. He stared sullenly at the blurry words for a few long moments as his gaze unfocused from the close proximity. With another sigh he jerked back straight in his chair, which creaked at the sudden movement, and his head lolled backwards. "God, I'm never gonna figure this out" the blonde groaned out loudly and the middle-aged librarian gave him an angry 'ssh' as she briskly walked past carrying a large pile of books. He stuck his tongue out childishly at her back as she turned into an isle.

Naruto's head limply rolled back into an upright position and he flicked his eyes over his research, lips thinning as he pressed them together in contemplation. Sighing again heavily he closed his eyes and rubbed over the lids slowly with his fingertips. He'd been here for the last 6 hours and all he had was a bunch of incomprehensible information and a few dozen pages of useless attempts at solving it. The last couple of days he'd been coming to the Konoha central library to try and find a way of reversing the Akatsuki's current predicament. And so far he'd gotten nowhere.

With a deep inhale he pushed back from the desk and started gathering everything up, it was time to call it a day. He'd been away from the Akatsuki too long. Who knew what they might have managed to do while he was out.

The young receptionist gave him a friendly smile as he walked towards the front desk, and he returned it weakly. "Any luck this time?" she asked as he placed his pile of books on the counter top for her to check them out. "Nope" he said with forced cheer in his voice, trying to keep the conversation lighter. "Hmm, that's too bad. I'm sure you'll get there eventually though" she said kindly as she handed the books back to him. "Yeah, eventually" he replied with another weak smile and nodded in thanks as he made for the door.

As he was making his way down the library steps he paused in his decent when someone called out his name in a dubious tone of voice, and he lifted his head to identify the person. Hyuuga Neji stood at the foot of the stairs with a faint look of surprise on his face. "Neji!" Naruto exclaimed with genuine cheerfulness. He hadn't seen the long haired teen for a while.

"I didn't take you for a library type" the Hyuuga said with a little bemused smile on his face, eyes flickering over the books held in the blonde's arms as he bounced down the rest of the steps.

"Naruto, are you… studying sealing?" he asked disbelievingly.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah. Well kinda" the blonde said casually as he tilted his head in thought, a carefree smile on his face. "Why?" he questioned curiously.

"You do know it's one of the most complicated of all the ninja arts right?" the Byakugan user asked with a small frown.

"Yeah, I know" the jinchuuriki said as he shifted the books slightly for a more comfortable position.

"Can you understand any of it?" Neji questioned skeptically.

"Somewhat. Look sorry Neji, I'd like to stay and talk some more but ramen's calling me" the blonde excused quickly not noticing the way Neji's eyes widened in surprise at his questions answer. "I'll catch up again some time soon, 'kay." He called as he walked backwards away from the still shocked Hyuuga. With a little wave and a last grin he turned and jogged away.

"Okay" Neji said lamely as he watched the blonde disappear around the corner. That was rather . . . odd. He frowned to himself and thought back to the conversation they'd just had.

Why on earth would Naruto need to know about the art of sealing? Even some of the best shinobi in the world struggled to comprehend the simplest of seals, they knew how to use them sure, but that was something completely different from making them. So how was it that the supposedly labeled dunce of the Konoha rookie nine could 'somewhat' understand it?

'Naruto, this puzzle of yours just keeps getting curiouser.'

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"I'm back." Naruto called as he slipped his shoes off at the doorway. "Please tell me you guys didn't break anything else while I was out" he said mostly to himself as he walked down the hallway to the living room.

"Welcome back" Itachi answered without looking at him as he stepped into the room. "Find anything this time, un?" Deidara asked from his perch on the arm of his couch. He used a tone that said he clearly wasn't expecting him to have.

"No" Naruto sighed as he placed the books on the coffee table and collapsed onto the couch cushions, throwing an arm over his eyes. "But it's only a matter of time. I'll get there… eventually" he said to himself in a self assuring way. The golden furred cat scoffed "Eventually he says." Naruto tuned out as Deidara started grumbling about his blasé attitude.

"Eventually…" he repeated softly.

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Sorry if this chapter isn't quite up to standard, but I've been pretty distracted lately.

(1.) This scene was inspired by the famous painting "A Friend in Need" by C.M. Coolidge, which is that painting that has the dogs playing poker in it.

To my faithful readers.

I don't know how many of you have been to my profile page, but if you have then you may have noticed the poll at the top of the page. That poll will be deciding what I do with not only Akatsuki Cats but all of my current in progress stories. If you want a say in this then I would recommend putting in your vote.

Thank You.

Your humble writer ~Pegging.

Please Read and Review.


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Naruto, Humor